“Be kind, be calm and be safe” is Dr. Bonnie Henry’s signature line, and now she’s revealing that some have crossed the line leaving her feeling unsafe.
“I’ve had to have security in my house, I’ve had death threats, how do we deal with that? And I sense people find that it’s okay to do that for a woman who’s up front more so than some of our male leaders but I could be wrong,” she told a panel at a Union of B.C. Municipalities meeting on Tuesday.
READ MORE: Dr. Bonnie Henry says she’s received abuse, death threats during COVID-19 response
But University of Victoria gender studies professor Janni Aragon says Dr. Henry is not wrong at all.
“I think people have less patience for women leaders and subsequently are really quick to knee jerk and attack them in hateful ways,” Aragon said.
Aragon points to the racialized hate that’s been directed at Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam.
And Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps who left social media after receiving hateful, misogynistic and homophobic messages including death threats.
“Any time women are in high profile leadership roles we receive all manners of threats and comments so it’s sad but it’s a reality of doing this job,” Helps said.
B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau says she has also received threatening messages and felt unsafe at times as a female politician. And while she says there’s no question all leaders, both men and women, face abuse, for women it’s often on another level.
“It tends to be more personal with women, it tends to be more pointed, more directed and it tends to often involve threats of sexual violence,” Furstenau said.
What people like Lisa Helps worry the most about is the message it sends to future leaders.
“What young woman would want to step into the role of mayor if that’s the kind of thing she’d be facing in the future?” Helps questioned.
Many of the women in leadership roles say people need to call out abusive and threatening messages they see online, and for those posting them, to remember there can be consequences.
Victoria police say they’re investigating to determine the nature of the threats made against Dr. Bonnie Henry.
April Lawrence
